--- title: Trump Suggests Military Strikes in Venezuela May Come Soon description: “We are certainly looking at land now because we’ve got the sea under control,” Trump told TIME. canonical: https://time.com/7326027/trump-venezuela-land-strikes/ author: Brian Bennett article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-10-15T21:32:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T08:12:07.553Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Suggests Military Strikes in Venezuela May Come Soon og:description: “We are certainly looking at land now because we’ve got the sea under control,” Trump said. og:url: https://time.com/7326027/trump-venezuela-land-strikes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb06a5fbf6817552d/6998cad5e2d64bd206c5fc92/GettyImages-2240805810.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: President Trump And FBI Director Patel Hold News Conference og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Suggests Military Strikes in Venezuela May Come Soon twitter:description: “We are certainly looking at land now because we’ve got the sea under control,” Trump said. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb06a5fbf6817552d/6998cad5e2d64bd206c5fc92/GettyImages-2240805810.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 00:50 video:published: 2025-10-15 section: politics topics: war on cartels, land strikes, drug boats, Venezuela, Maduro, CIA authority, illegal drug shipments, Oval Office remarks, maritime interdiction genre: news, press remarks tones: assertive, evasive, combative, dismissive emotions: defiance (high), irritation (medium), confidence (high) sentiment: neutral audience: US politics followers, foreign policy readers, news viewers, Latin America watchers people: Donald Trump, Maduro organizations: CIA content_suitability: war [00:00-00:23]; drugs and alcohol [00:11-00:23]; politics [00:23-00:50] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # After Targeting Boats at Sea, Trump Suggests Land Strikes in Venezuela May Be Next > Sponsored content. 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After touting the success of recent military strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean that killed dozens, President Donald Trump suggested Wednesday he is considering land strikes in Venezuela or elsewhere as a way of further targeting alleged shipments of illegal drugs. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump was asked by TIME if ground strikes were possible. “We are certainly looking at land now because we’ve got the sea under control,” Trump said._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary President Trump is asked by a reporter about next steps in the war on cartels, including strikes on land. He says land is now under consideration because the sea is well under control, and describes recent days with no boats as a good sign. Asked whether the CIA has authority to take out Maduro, he declines to answer and calls the question ridiculous for him to be asked. He says Venezuela and other countries are feeling heat and that the country will not be ruined by what others send. ## Key points - Trump says he is certainly looking at land now, because the sea is very well under control. (00:05) - He declines to say exactly what the next step in the war on cartels will be. (00:05) - Trump says there have been a couple of days when there isn't a boat to be found, which he views as a good thing. (00:11) - He says tremendous amounts of drugs were coming in by boats, described as very expensive boats, because the traffickers have a lot of money. (00:17) - Asked whether the CIA has authority to take out Maduro, Trump says he does not want to answer and calls it a ridiculous question for him to be given. (00:23) - Trump says it would be a ridiculous question for him to answer, though he says it is not really a ridiculous question. (00:30) - Trump says he thinks Venezuela is feeling heat, and that a lot of other countries are feeling heat too. (00:35) - Trump says the US will not let the country be ruined because other people want to send their worst, and says they have given the US their worst. (00:40) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:23] Land strikes and boats under control. Asked about next steps against cartels, Trump says land is under consideration since the sea is well controlled and boat traffic has dropped. - [00:23 to 00:35] Question about CIA and Maduro. Trump declines to answer whether the CIA has authority to take out Maduro, calling the question ridiculous to ask him to answer. - [00:35 to 00:50] Venezuela and other countries feel heat. Trump says Venezuela and other countries are feeling heat and that the country will not be ruined by what others send. ## Key quotes - [00:05] Donald Trump: "Well, I don't want to tell you exactly," - [00:07] Donald Trump: "but we are certainly looking at land now because" - [00:07] Donald Trump: "we've got the sea very well under control." - [00:25] Donald Trump: "That's a ridiculous question for me to be given." - [00:35] Donald Trump: "But I think Venezuela is feeling heat." ## Questions this video answers - Is the US considering strikes on land as the next step against cartels? [00:05] - Why does Trump say land is now being considered? [00:07] - What does Trump say about the number of drug boats recently? [00:11] - How does Trump respond to the question about the CIA and Maduro? [00:23] ## Content suitability - war [00:00-00:23]: Discussion of considering military strikes on land in the war on cartels. - drugs and alcohol [00:11-00:23]: References to large amounts of drugs coming in by boat. - politics [00:23-00:50]: Political remarks about Venezuela, Maduro and the CIA. by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/) and [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/) Oct 15, 2025 9:32 PM UTC After touting the success of recent military strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean that killed dozens, President Donald Trump suggested Wednesday he is considering land strikes in Venezuela or elsewhere as a way of further targeting alleged shipments of illegal drugs. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump was asked by TIME if ground strikes were possible. “We are certainly looking at land now because we’ve got the sea under control,” Trump said. by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/) and [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/) Oct 15, 2025 9:32 PM UTC After touting the success of recent military strikes on [alleged drug boats](https://time.com/7317506/us-venezuela-war-powers-international-law-trump-maduro-drugs-cartel-boat-strike/) in the Caribbean that killed dozens, President Donald Trump suggested Wednesday he is considering land strikes in Venezuela or elsewhere as a way of further targeting alleged shipments of illegal drugs. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump was asked by TIME if ground strikes were possible. “We are certainly looking at land now because we’ve got the sea under control,” Trump said. The Trump administration has claimed to be in an armed conflict with drug trafficking organizations. The U.S. military has launched [five](https://time.com/7325748/trump-strikes-narcotic-vessel-venezuela/) known attacks against boats in the Caribbean since early September. Trump posted a video on Tuesday to his Truth Social account that he said showed “a lethal kinetic strike” by U.S. Southern Command that killed six men and destroyed a boat carrying narcotics just off the coast of Venezuela. Legal experts have described such strikes as illegal, as they would only be permitted during an armed conflict that posed a threat to the U.S. Moving forward with air strikes in Venezuela or another country not at war with the U.S. would be yet another dramatic escalation of American war power in the Western Hemisphere by Trump following his decision to blow up boats carrying suspected drug shipments to the U.S. The U.S. Coast Guard already has legal authority to stop and board ships suspected of carrying drugs to the U.S. Asked Wednesday by TIME why he didn’t rely on the Coast Guard to stop and board these boats, Trump said, “because we’ve been doing that for thirty years and it’s been totally ineffective. They have faster boats. Some of these boats are, seriously, I mean they’re world-class speed boats, but they’re not faster than missiles.” Trump claimed that the lethal military strikes have reduced the number of drug smuggling coming to the U.S. over water. “Right now would have, I would say, none coming in through the seas. In fact, I don’t know about the fishing industry, if you want to go fishing, but a lot of people aren’t deciding to go even go fishing. We’ve almost totally stopped it by sea. Now we’ll stop it by land.” ## Transcript [00:00] What's the next step in this war on cartels? [00:02] And are you considering options? [00:03] Are you considering strikes on land? [00:05] Well, I don't want to tell you exactly, [00:07] but we are certainly looking at land now because [00:09] we've got the sea very well under control. [00:11] Uh, we've had a couple of days where there isn't a boat to be found, [00:15] and that I view that as a good thing. [00:17] Not a bad thing, but we had tremendous amounts coming in by boats, [00:20] by very expensive boats. [00:21] You know, they have a lot of money. [00:23] The CIA have authority to take out Maduro. [00:25] Oh, I don't want to answer a question like that. [00:27] That's a ridiculous question for me to be given. [00:30] Not really a ridiculous question, [00:32] but wouldn't it be a ridiculous question for me to answer? [00:35] But I think Venezuela is feeling heat. [00:38] But I think a lot of other countries are feeling heat too. [00:40] We're not going to let this country, our country, [00:43] be ruined because other people want to drop, [00:46] as you say, their worst. 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